Stuck? Find Business Inspiration Here

You find yourself at the end of your proverbial rope. There is a problem you can’t solve. An idea sitting on the tip of your tongue but you can’t get it out. You feel discouraged, question yourself and the crazy decision to go out on your own. You feel lost, confused, overwhelmed, even scared. And you are a small business owner, on your own, out in the world, without a safety net. There is a problem you just can’t figure out how to solve. You need to pivot, take a turn, change gears, find a new direction, and you just can’t figure out what to do. You need a good idea, or a process to take that good idea to the next step. And you are stuck…

What then?

Everybody gets stuck. It happens to great thinkers and miserable failures alike. What makes the difference between the great successes and the failures? Knowing how to pull up your bootstraps and keep going until you find a solution. What you need is inspiration… something to keep you moving forward until you get unstuck.

This is a collection of some ways to unstick yourself (or at least keep going for a little bit longer until you can think of a way to get unstuck).

If you’ve been banging your head up against a wall trying to cram some ideas into it, or just feel like you don’t have the juice to be a “great thinker”, stop beating yourself up and get out in the world. Steven Berlin Johnson is the best-selling author of six books on the intersection of science, technology and personal experience. His forthcoming book examines “Where Good Ideas Come From.” In this video Steven breaks apart the often intimidating idea that ideas come from some kind of “Eureka!” moment by offering up a history of how really great ideas are born from engaging discussions (and coffeehouses!).

Naomi Dunford, genius behind the Small Business Marketing Blog Ittybiz, made this inspirational recording at the urging of her adorable son Jack because “it’s really good to listen to when you’re scared”. I think it’s really good anytime you are feeling stuck, or down on yourself, or when a challenge is facing you that seems overwhelming.

This video was sent to me when I asked my engineers for video inspiration recommendations. In typical engineer fashion they took this very pragmatically and ignored inspirational/inspiring in favor of practical step by step help (engineers believe processes and A/B testing solve every problem). This video by 37Signals offers a step by step breakdown (with lots of sarcasm and humor to make it bearable) for how to build a profitable business (aka how to make money online). It is great when you’ve had enough of the touchy feely you can do it! believe in yourself kind of inspiration and you are looking more for a swift kick in the pants/get to work/make a plan kind of inspiration.